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Taobums has been of IMMENSE help to me in my spiritual quest. I have always been drawn to the spiritual, but never quite knew which path to take. A series of events recently lead me to this amazing site and since then I have been blown away by the concepts of the Tao. No other ideology besides Taoism has resonated so well with me. But Taoism is a BIG subject and like everything, there seems to be millions of ways to express it, so it can be mind boggling to try and find one's right path by themselves. This forum allows me to find within Taoism, which views I agree with or those I feel no connection towards, (it has been a very fun learning experience ). A while ago I used to be on Robert Bruce's Astral Dynamics forum, which was alright, but I feel this forum is way more stuffed full of diversity of views and knowledge. I have never seen a forum with such a wide range of people, from the casual beginner, to the adept practitioner, to authors of books, to qigong masters, this site has them all. So thank you TAOBUMS, I can safely say after much exploring, I have found my true path which I am thrilled to have done. Now I just need to step out the door and begin my long journey on the chosen path. I hope Taobums has been as helpful to others as it has to me. Best regards, Ben

So what exactly is was the purpose of the I Ching? Is it just a tool for oracle prediction to help predict the future, or is its true meaning deeper than that? Does a seeker of the Tao and internal alchemist have any real use or need of the I Ching? I know the Tao Te Chin is a very useful guideline to understanding and becoming one with the Tao, but is the I Ching another valuable spiritual text or only for those interested in figuring out the future? I am just wondering if it is worth my time to try and understand the I Ching, however I am not too worried about predicting the future for personal knowledge so I am wondering if I should even bother to delve deeper into the text?

I thought this was an interesting article I found about gender in the Tao Te Ching My link. The article says that Lao Tzu originally wrote the Tao Te Ching gender neutral however english speaking people have interpreted chinese meaning as either feminine or masculine which appears in their translations. For example it says most english translation interpret the chinese charachers for person or sage as man. The article also gives a comparison of Douglas Allchin's translation and Hu Xuezhi's version, which is pretty interesting to see how one translation is obviously feminine and the other is entirely different and contains no gender qualities. Just makes you think how accurate your Tao Te Ching translation actually is. I think I am going to go ahead and buy Hu Xuezhi's version and see how it compares.

fly up to fly down don't forget to look inside now we know the truth

I also agree with you Island. We sometimes consider the teachings of spiritual knowledge too expensive, and then go and spend the same amount on useless junk we don't need. However, if teachings are too expensive, there will be many who can not afford to waste any amount of money, so I still think true spiritual knowledge should be more accessible to everyone. Thats why I like Vipassana because all their teachings (even their 10 day retreats where food and shelter is provided)are free and the only cost is donation based, so people just give what they can.

Hi Rainbow Vein I am by no means an expert on smoking, however I would defiantly argue that smoking natural tobacco is way better than commercial brand, is it healthy though? Thats a different story. Inhaling vapor versus smoking a cigarette would be the best option, because with vapor you are not getting the burnt paper from the cigarette into your lungs. These are my conclusions, but feel free to post any arguments against them.

Ya, being here in the U.S, I just can't stand the the smell of cigarette smoke, its just sickening . However I lived in Italy for a month with an Italian family, which was an awesome experience; but my point is that everyone I saw who smoked did not use american brand TRASH, they actually rolled up premium tobacco which smelled really good when they smoked it. I even took a few puffs to try it and it had a pretty good taste, however smoking is not for me. I think its just amazing the kind of toxins our government allows its citizens to consume for example I just read this article My link about a new pesticide just approved for usage on strawberries despite it is a known carcinogen known to cause cancer in mice and rats , even more reason to by organic.

WOW! Simply amazing pictures Gerard! Are you a photographer? Are all these your own pictures? You say, back home, may I ask where home is to you?

Taomeow, Are suggesting that smokers are their own race or group of people who are being oppressed similarly to homosexuals and colored people? If so I do not get your logic, smoking is a choice which I would say has been proven to be an unhealthy habit. No one is born a smoker so it is unfair to compare smokers to homosexuals or people of color. I believe the only reason there are no smoking signs and designated smoking areas is because smoking affects the people around them, who may not wish to be inhaling toxic fumes. One can argue that natural tobacco free of chemicals would be healthier to smoke than say a a regular cigarette, nevertheless it would still be unfair to force non-smokers to have to breath in second hand smoke.

Hey also just wondering, from the article I originally listed it says the purpose of cultivation is to convert our yin energy into yang so that eventually we are all yang and lose the yin/yang polarity. Is this true? I have never heard of this before, anyone know the details?

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Thanks for the replies, I think I will go ahead and read a copy if the I Ching when I get a chance. This book looks pretty good, has anyone here looked atMy link

This is why I have problems with supposed spiritual masters charging outrageous prices for their teachings. I believe true spiritual knowledge should be as available as possible and not a privilege to the few. I can't really understand how some masters can charge these absurd prices while at the same time saying they want to share their knowledge with the world, if that was their goal then they shouldn't care about making as much personal profit as possible as these just feed the ego, just IMO.

Are you referring to Hu Xuezhi?

seeking nothingness a great journey to be made one step at a time

subtle web of thought difficult to transcend self seeking nothingness

I am sure most people on Tao Bums are already well versed in the teachings of Lao Tzu. But being the new beginner to Taoism that I am, I have been really enjoying reading the sayings of Lao Tzu. Heres a great website I found which has a good amount of his quotes My link. Really, I have never found a person who's quotes or teachings I have 100% agreed with from as much as Lao Tzu. His sayings are a gold mine of wisdom and he must have been a truly magnificent human being. To anyone who has never really checked out his teachings, I would highly recommend just checking out that site and have fun learning from a real master of Taoism, I know I am . So enjoy, just thought I'de share what I've recently been having fun with.

Good point that spiritual cultivator should realize

I think all too often, spiritual seekers and cultivators get too caught up in their own inward achievements; which is all fine and good, but I think we should use the spiritual knowledge we receive to better help humanity, especially in this time where humanity needs all the help it can get, we should contribute even if its only one small act of kindness a day "Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." - Lao Tzu "An ant on the move does more than a dozing ox" - Lao Tzu

Hi Twinner, I actually just read that quote from Lao Tzu before you posted it here and it really struck me. It kinda says to be diligent in your practice, while not taking yourself too seriously and to just enjoy life. Great saying I also came across this an excerpt from The Book of Understanding by Osho and thought it was very enlightening. In paradise one afternoon, in its most famous cafe, Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Buddha are sitting and chatting. The waiter comes with a tray that holds three glasses of the juice called "Life," and offers them. Buddha immediately closes his eyes and refuses; he says, "Life is misery." Confucius closes his eyes halfway - he is a middlist, he used to preach the golden mean - and asks the waiter to give him the glass. He would like to have a sip - but just a sip, because without tasting how can one say whether life is misery or not? Confucius had a scientific mind; he was not much of a mystic, he had a very pragmatic, earthbound mind. He was the first behaviorist the world has known, very logical. And it seems perfectly right - he says, "First I will have a sip, and then I will say what I think." He takes a sip and he says, "Buddha is right - life is misery." Lao Tzu takes all the three glasses and he says, "Unless one drinks totally, how can one say anything?" And Lao Tzu says, " He drinks all the three glasses and starts dancing! Buddha and Confucius ask him, "Are you not going to say anything?" And Lao Tzu says, "This is what I am saying - my dance and my song are speaking for me." Unless you taste totally, you cannot say. And when you taste totally, you still cannot say because what you know is such that no words are adequate. Buddha is on one extreme, Confucius is in the middle. Lao Tzu has drunk all the three glasses - the one that was brought for Buddha, the one that was brought for Confucius, and the one that was brought for him. He has drunk them all; he has lived life in its three-dimensionality. My own approach is that of Lao Tzu. Live life in all possible ways; don't choose one thing against the other, and don't try to be in the middle. Don't try to balance yourself - balance is not something that can be cultivated. Balance is something that comes out of experiencing all the dimensions o flife. Balance is something that happens; it is not something that can be brought about through your efforts. If you bring it through your efforts it will be false, forced. And you will remain tense, you will not be relaxed, because how can a person who is trying to remain balanced in the middle be relaxed? You will always be afraid that if you relax you may start moving to the left or to the right. You are bound to remain uptight, and to be uptight is to miss the whole opportunity, the whole gift of life. Don't be uptight. Don't live life according to principles. Live life in its totality, drink life in its totality! Yes, sometimes it tastes bitter - so what? That taste of bitterness will make you capable of tasting its sweetness. You will be able to appreciate the sweetness only if you have tasted its bitterness. One who knows not how to cry will not know how to laugh, either. One who cannot enjoy a deep laughter, a belly laugh, that person's tears will be crocodile tears. They cannot be true, they cannot be authentic. I don't teach the middle way, I teach the total way. Then a balance comes of its own accord, and then that balance has tremendous beauty and grace. You have not forced it, it has simply come. By moving gracefully to the left, to the right, in the middle, slowly a balance comes to you because you remain so unidentified. When sadness comes, you know it will pass, and when happiness comes you know that will pass, too. Nothing remains; everything passes by. The only thing that always abides is your witnessing. That witnessing brings balance. That witnessing is balance.

Yosemite National Park Where my heart is

Rainbow vein, So is this the first time you have taken up a steady practice of qigong? Also have you been to any workshops yet, or have just been practicing based on the guidelines from the book?